Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread II

awec

Marshall better be next.

former total

awec wrote: »

Marshall Decent cover for 9 and 10 better be next.

Won't make that much difference to Ulster whether it's Cave or Marshall sitting on the bench covering Payne, but y'all desperately need some half-backs.

The Black Stags

former total wrote: »

Won't make that much difference to Ulster whether it's Cave or Marshall sitting on the bench covering Payne, but y'all desperately need some half-backs.

Don't worry I think ihumphreys is looking to extend his contract.

Zzippy

Payne signs on for another 2 years http://www.the42.ie/jared-payne-ireland-deal-two-years-2611457-Feb2016/?utm_source=shortlink

Awec will love this bit!

The New Zealand-born fullback can also play centre and has 14 tries in 63 appearances for Ulster.

awec

The42 know their stuff!

bilston

former total wrote: »

Won't make that much difference to Ulster whether it's Cave or Marshall sitting on the bench covering Payne, but y'all desperately need some half-backs.

This.

And I know you aren't convinced by PJ (at test level anyway), but believe me if he gets injured we are up the creek without a paddle.

bilston

Well I'm delighted about Payne staying. I thought he would probably leave.

awec

bilston wrote: »

Well I'm delighted about Payne staying. I thought he would probably leave.

I'll wait til we hear about Marshall. If Payne stays and Marshall goes I'll be angry.

awec

awec wrote: »

I'll wait til we hear about Marshall. If Payne stays and Marshall goes I'll be angry.

Tall Paul is going nowhere :pac:

bilston

awec wrote: »

I'll wait til we hear about Marshall. If Payne stays and Marshall goes I'll be angry.

I'll be angry if Marshall leaves too, but not because Payne is staying. The two aren't necessarily connected. The reliable posters 9n uafc say Marshall is staying. If confirmed we will have managed to have kept all our backs except for Scholes by the looks of things. Two years away, provided he comes back, may be a good thing. The trick is getting him back!

Number 137

While the potential Ulster line up next season is extremely exciting, if both Pienaar and Paddy Jackson were to get injured, it'd be like having a Ferrari without a steering wheel!

Brewster

Is Olding going to see more time at 10 perhaps?! Having to watch Olding as a game breaking 10 would create all sorts of space for outside backs...

Neil3030

Number 137 wrote: »

While the potential Ulster line up next season is extremely exciting, if both Pienaar and Paddy Jackson were to get injured, it'd be like having a Ferrari without a steering wheel!

Then you enter it in a drag race. Simple.

damianmcr

awec wrote: »

I'll wait til we hear about Marshall. If Payne stays and Marshall goes I'll be angry.

Marshall has also got a new contract.

mogwai81

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/six-nations/gutted-jackson-reveals-his-frustration-at-joe-schmidt-selection-34467090.html

Not sure what else Paddy Jackson needs to do. Any talk of his poor kicking is lazy as he has vastly improved this year.
http://rugby.statbunker.com/competitions/KickingStrikeRate?comp_id=500

launish116

are we thinking that's all the business done?

just waiting news on scholes leaving.

awec

Waiting news on iHumph leaving too I hope.

He better not get a new contract.

rsh118

awec wrote: »

Waiting news on iHumph leaving too I hope.

Leaving us was Babs as back up?!

awec

rsh118 wrote: »

Leaving us was Babs as back up?!

I hope the Duke follows iHumph out the door.

rsh118

awec wrote: »

I hope the Duke follows iHumph out the door.

Hmmm, perhaps it's time to call up Ulster's secret weapon... NOC is somewhere right now using a toothbrush to clean his boots in preparation...

awec

rsh118 wrote: »

Hmmm, perhaps it's time to call up Ulster's secret weapon... NOC is somewhere right now using a toothbrush to clean his boots in preparation...

If any of the following are playing for Ulster next year I will not be happy:

Ian Humphreys
Sam Windsor
Niall O'Connor
Ian McKinney

There must be a semi-decent 10 somewhere we could sign.

rsh118

awec wrote: »

If any of the following are playing for Ulster next year I will not be happy:

Ian Humphreys
Sam Windsor
Niall O'Connor
Ian McKinney

There must be a semi-decent 10 somewhere we could sign.

Not with the IRFU letting Ireland's best 10 slip with their fingers

Sean Reidy is Kiwi, I'm sure he could slide in. Or we could revert to our best H Cup team of WeeP and Ruan at 10. Those were the days when that was an argument!!

awec

Is there no decent 10 in the academy ready to step up?

rsh118

awec wrote: »

Is there no decent 10 in the academy ready to step up?

They only produce centres at the moment. Though the Olding to 10 camp are growing louder every day. Though I've always fancied him to become a 9!

awec

rsh118 wrote: »

They only produce centres at the moment. Though the Olding to 10 camp are growing louder every day. Though I've always fancied him to become a 9!

Olding is wasted at 10 IMO. Olding and Jackson are two of Ulster's best players, they both need to be on the field at the same time.

Even aside from that I don't think Olding has enough time on the ball at 10 to work his magic.

mogwai81

awec wrote: »

Is there no decent 10 in the academy ready to step up?

Disappointed Sean O'Hagan was let go this season

rsh118

awec wrote: »

Olding is wasted at 10 IMO. Olding and Jackson are two of Ulster's best players, they both need to be on the field at the same time.

Even aside from that I don't think Olding has enough time on the ball at 10 to work his magic.

That's why he could do a Ruan and decide to become a 9. Size wise it might suit him too for playing international, and he'd be guaranteed a bench spot due to endless versatility!

irishbucsfan

awec wrote: »

Is there no decent 10 in the academy ready to step up?

Hopefully a question Ulster will ask themselves BEFORE drawing up the list of people they're kicking out.

awec

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Hopefully a question Ulster will ask themselves BEFORE drawing up the list of people they're kicking out.

I'd still boot Humphreys out anyway. He is poison.

sfbdqc

awec wrote: »

Is there no decent 10 in the academy ready to step up?

No. McPhillips and MaGrath are in there but neither are close to ready if they ever will be.

rsh118

sfbdqc wrote: »

No. McPhillips and MaGrath are in there but neither are close to ready if they ever will be.

Someone call Nucifora while he still seems amenable to us. We'll nurse that old guy at Leinster to the end of his career, allowing Madigan to break into the team.

awec

Ulster team and replacements to play Scarlets, Guinness PRO12, Kingspan Stadium, Sunday 21st February, 2.30pm:
(15-9): S Olding, C Gilroy, D Cave, L Marshall, J Stockdale, P Jackson, P Marshall;
(1-8): A Warwick, J Andrew, R Lutton, A O'Connor, F van der Merwe, R Diack, C Henry, R Wilson;
Replacements (16-23): J Murphy, K McCall, B Ross, P Browne, C Ross, R Pienaar, I Humphreys, S Arnold

rsh118

If Boss gets dumped by the mighty Leinstertainment Roadshow (tm), would we take him back as a mentor for PMarsh?

awec

Paddy Jackson is Ulster's captain.

awec

rsh118 wrote: »

If Boss gets dumped by the mighty Leinstertainment Roadshow (tm), would we take him back as a mentor for PMarsh?

Marshall doesn't need a mentor, he's just not very good! If he hasn't learned anything from Pienaar he'd hardly learn anything from Boss!

Scythica

awec wrote: »

Ulster team and replacements to play Scarlets, Guinness PRO12, Kingspan Stadium, Sunday 21st February, 2.30pm:
(15-9): S Olding, C Gilroy, D Cave, L Marshall, J Stockdale, P Jackson, P Marshall;
(1-8): A Warwick, J Andrew, R Lutton, A O'Connor, F van der Merwe, R Diack, C Henry, R Wilson;
Replacements (16-23): J Murphy, K McCall, B Ross, P Browne, C Ross, R Pienaar, I Humphreys, S Arnold

Has Herring not been released from camp or just giving the lad a bit of a rest?

Expect to see Olding hitting some nice lines from deep off of Cave. Pretty nice team apart from ruck inspector on the bench

awec

Scythica wrote: »

Has Herring not been released from camp or just giving the lad a bit of a rest?

Expect to see Olding hitting some nice lines from deep off of Cave. Pretty nice team apart from ruck inspector on the bench

And iHumph on the bench. Don't see the point of him anymore, he's actually poison.

Olding and Marshall can cover 10 to a better standard than he can.

rsh118

I've a real fondness for Robbie Diack. I want to stand up and say that. I like the cut of him, and he always seems to work hard for us, adds a line out dimension and generally has a nice touch of Pro 12 class.

Scythica

Would definitely like to see LM at and Olding moving into 12.

As mentioned on the Ireland thread, LM released, McC not; rumour mill begins?!

I actually really liked Nelson as a 10 I think he could have a good wee future there with gametime and some time with any sort of non Doak kicking coach

bilston

awec wrote: »

Paddy Jackson is Ulster's captain.

Now I'm hoping he gives a versatile teamtalk.

Has Madser ever captained Leinster?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Do you think PJ being captain is a response to his comments about not getting into the Irish team? Like a "we love and value you Paddy, EVEN IF THEY DON'T!!" kind of thing?

Someone was asking earlier what else does PJ have to do to be rated above Madigan, being considered captain material and a leader on the pitch should help?

bilston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Do you think PJ being captain is a response to his comments about not getting into the Irish team? Like a "we love and value you Paddy, EVEN IF THEY DON'T!!" kind of thing?

Someone was asking earlier what else does PJ have to do to be rated above Madigan, being considered captain material and a leader on the pitch should help?

Maybe, maybe not, but I think he is viewed as a future Ulster captain.

But as I said when the debate over the next Irish captain was raging that I don't think 10s should captain as they have enough on their plate.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

bilston wrote: »

Maybe, maybe not, but I think he is viewed as a future Ulster captain.

But as I said when the debate over the next Irish captain was raging that I don't think 10s should captain as they have enough on their plate.

In a positional sense a 9 or a 10 as captain makes sense to me. They're kind of in the middle, you know?

I know very little about these things but, for example, during the Welsh game, I think it was, someone was saying that a Welsh player was doing something wrong in the scrum and that Best should be in the refs ear about it more. I was thinking how can Best even know what a Welsh player is doing in the scrum when he's got his head down and is in it too? He might feel in the scrum that they're doing something they shouldn't but can he really know who and what?

Historically have their been a lot of 10s captaining sides? The majority of captains seem to be forwards. Nacewa is the only exception springing to mind.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

p.s. Is the Ulster match on TV this weekend? Non Sky TV?

awec

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

p.s. Is the Ulster match on TV this weekend? Non Sky TV?

BBC NI on Sunday.

Utah_Saint

So paddy is back with ulster. I assume that means he's missed out again?

I'm sure he's pretty fed up. All the better for Ulster if I'm being selfish...

awec

Utah_Saint wrote: »

So paddy is back with ulster. I assume that means he's missed out again?

I'm sure he's pretty fed up. All the better for Ulster if I'm being selfish...

No Ireland game this weekend. Madigan is playing for Leinster too.

Bazzo

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

In a positional sense a 9 or a 10 as captain makes sense to me. They're kind of in the middle, you know?

I know very little about these things but, for example, during the Welsh game, I think it was, someone was saying that a Welsh player was doing something wrong in the scrum and that Best should be in the refs ear about it more. I was thinking how can Best even know what a Welsh player is doing in the scrum when he's got his head down and is in it too? He might feel in the scrum that they're doing something they shouldn't but can he really know who and what?

Historically have their been a lot of 10s captaining sides? The majority of captains seem to be forwards. Nacewa is the only exception springing to mind.

I remember BOD saying after he retired that he reckoned making a back a captain wasn't ideal and it should really be a forward, positionally a centre wouldn't be far off an out half so...

An out half also would hardly see more of what's going on in the scrum than a forward, your captain would be relying on his teammates to let him know(IE if their loosehead isn't driving straight your tighthead would say it to your captain) who'd then pass the word on to the ref.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Bazzo wrote: »

An out half also would hardly see more of what's going on in the scrum than a forward, your captain would be relying on his teammates to let him know(IE if their loosehead isn't driving straight your tighthead would say it to your captain) who'd then pass the word on to the ref.

Yeah, it's just a guy in the scrum can't say anything to the ref until after the scrum, whereas a 9 could say it to him while the scrum is happening. That said you don't have to be captain to yell at scrum time. Murray does it a lot.

Buer

rsh118 wrote: »

If Boss gets dumped by the mighty Leinstertainment Roadshow (tm), would we take him back as a mentor for PMarsh?

Wee Paul is no spring chicken these days. He turns 31 in July.

His current deal expires at the end of next season and I think Ulster should really consider ditching him at that point and finally using one of their NIQ spots on a project back up for Pienaar who will be winding down.